“You can approach 'The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death' in a variety or combination of ways: as a startlingly eccentric hobby; as a series of unresolved murder mysteries; as the manifestation of one woman's peculiar psychic life; as a lesson in forensics; as a metaphor for the fate of women; as a photographic study.”

Robert Gottlieb is an American editor and literary critic. He spent decades shaping major publishing houses as editor-in-chief, including at Alfred A. Knopf and the New Press, and remains influential for his advocacy of literary nonfiction and social justice. His career spans six decades, marked by mentorship of writers and a commitment to public intellectualism.